TV18 Broadcast revenue up 22 per cent, stock gains

TV18 Broadcast announced its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. On a consolidated quarterly basis, the company’s operating revenue surged 22 per cent YoY to Rs. 1,475 crore in Q3FY19 from Rs. 1,211 crore in Q3FY18. Operating EBITDA increased to Rs. 115 crore in Q3FY19 from Rs. 82 crore in Q3FY18, thereby rising 41 per cent YoY.

The improvement in operating revenues is attributed to advertising tailwinds, robust growth in subscription income and successful movies like Andhadhun. EBITDA augmented despite the company’s investments in recent launches namely Colors Tamil and Colors Kannada Cinema. Profitability was driven by operating leverage, particularly on the back of consistent stout performance of regional channels across the company’s news and entertainment portfolios.

Owing to a resilient ad-environment, the advertisement spends in the industry were high and more concentrated around the festive season. A theme that has remained consistent for the TV18 channel portfolio is the growing ad-spends in the regional channels. This manifested itself in the form of news led by regional elections and entertainment propelled by rising consumption and value perception.

Subscription revenue rose 13 per cent YoY. News revenue grew 16 per cent while regional news revenue grew 27 per cent YoY. Entertainment portfolio revenue surged 23 per cent YoY. The movie production & distribution revenue under Viacom18 motion pictures stood at Rs. 106 crore versus a low base of Rs. 20 crore in Q3FY18.

The National Company Law Tribunal approved the scheme of arrangement for the merger by absorption of wholly-owned direct and indirect subsidiaries of TV18 with the parent.

On Tuesday, the stock of TV18 Broadcast opened at Rs. 37.40 per share and hit a high and low of Rs. 39.15 and Rs. 37.40, respectively. At 2:27 pm, the stock was trading at Rs. 38.35, up 2.13 per cent.